Turner & Townsend holds volunteer day with Amsterdam high school students, Netherlands

Turner & Townsend holds volunteer day with Amsterdam high school students, Netherlands

17 November 2017

Turner & Townsend, in partnership with children's charity JINC, held a volunteer day aimed to equip young adults from the Reigerbos Highschool in Amsterdam with the knowledge, skills and understanding to succeed in the job market.

On 17 November 2017, 50 volunteers from Turner & Townsend’s Amsterdam office, including Luke Bartolo – Country Manager Netherlands, took part in an employability workshop at the Reigerbos Highschool in Amsterdam. In collaboration with JINC, Turner & Townsend organised the volunteer day to support 100 students (aged 15-17), who will soon make important career path decisions upon competing their final year of high school education.

The event was organised in three different learning assignments to ensure maximum benefit for the students on the day.

During the first assignment, students took part in a time management workshop to get an understanding of prioritising tasks and activities and trigger a discussion about how students tend to spend their time. The second task gave students the opportunity to prepare for a real job interview. Quinta van Vliet, one of the volunteers said “It’s amazing to see how eager these students are to participate and learn. After 10 minutes the nervousness starts to disappear and you really get to know them.”

The final assignment gave the students a true insight in to what we do on a daily basis – project management. The students broke up in to smaller groups and, working with Turner & Townsend volunteers, prepared project execution plans. The aim of the exercise was to provide students with improved ‘know how’ on a real job assignment whilst honing their team building skills.

JINC is a charity in the Netherlands that believes everyone should have equal opportunities when entering the labour market. They inspire children and young people from socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods to develop life and career aspirations through gaining a better understanding of the world of work.

Luke Bartolo, Country Manager Netherlands, commented: "We are particularly proud of our ongoing partnership with JINC. Our team values the opportunity to support young people in our communities develop, and challenge themselves as they embark on the next stage of their young lives."

If you would like to know more about our partnership with JINC or about CSR activities in Benelux please contact Anouk Steffens.